Southord MAX M3000 Lock Pick Set

[@JohnLeePettimoreIII]

i'm a retired (USA) locksmith and towards the end of my years, i used almost exclusively SouthOrd picks. for me, they just worked well in my hand. others in my shop liked Petersen or HPC, but it seemed to me that my picks were getting borrowed an awful lot.

[@cyberfox981]

Maybe not the best but for sure good enough too get the job done and with reasonable price

[@ChevyConQueso]

For those that don't know, SouthOrd does a 25% off sale every July, for the majority of the month, which unfortunately just passed us up. I took the opportunity to give their Max line a try, primarily for single pin picking, as well as the Euro line, all in sandwich handles, to compare profiles. My first pick set back in '14 was a SouthOrd PSX-14, which is a very different animal. I'm pretty happy with the rakes I own, and I've been focusing on my single pin picking, so I got 7 picks, the 4 hooks (short, medium, skinny deep and fat deep hooks), offset hybrid, Deforest diamond, and the Deforest diamond with the divot. I got multiple duplicates of each, and got the same 7 picks plus duplicates in the Euro line. I also bought every single tension tool they sell, save for the twisted ones, because twisted ones suck. The profiles are identical to the Euro line, if you were wondering. Very, very slender compared to the standard line. The finish is absolutely fantastic, and I don't feel the need to do a thing to them. The Max are water jet cut, as opposed to stamped, like all the others they sell. They're very stiff, just like LN says. The Max measure between .024" and .025", the Euro are .022". I prefer those for the 70+ American locks I bought recently, but the Max do fit. They just drag a little bit more. As for the tension tools, I already have good TOK wrenches, but wanted to expand the variety of BOK, and I bought the spanner style. I like the variety that they have, and the different thicknesses are awesome. Other brands seem lacking comparatively. I would change 2 things about the Max picks if I could. First is the length. I do like the shorter shafts that the Sparrow's picks have, but it's not a big deal. I just feel like the shorter ones are a little bit easier to manipulate. Second thing, is make them in .022", or offer a .020" Max. These are really thin shafts in the vertical way, so they fit where the standard ones just won't. I'm pretty happy with my purchase so far. I haven't tried Multipick yet, but will probably see how those stack up against these next. I'd say give the Max line a shot; I don't think you'll be disappointed.

[@rickriegodedios1864]

Love the review. I added TOK tools from Law Lock. I find them to be a bit small but I just added Southord grips. They feel great, now! I also ordered your 39 Piece Multipick Elite set.

[@StephenDickerman]

Southord was my first pick set. Always good stuff.

[@LockNoob]

Sure is!

[@rickriegodedios1864]

Great review. I thought it lacking TOK turning tools to be a weakness. The extra double ended tools are not what we would expect to use in a set that has everything needed. I started with Sparrows but I want a Lawlock set.

[@LockNoob]

LLT make great picks

[@kevenquinlan]

Good Review. I buy mostly sparrows and Some SO. I get a few of their wrenches/ the postal hook. I have had some of their picks though they weren't Max Yield. The quality of their cheap stuff is good, on par with like a Sparrows, but the design elements always seem a bit off. That W rake I used, and it was hard to work with and opened nothing. I also hate the Large Diamond as it gets in its own way when you use it and it's huge, and balls I don't care for at all- I find them very hard to use on Wafers- I use a city and just cantilever and I don't think I've had a filing cabinet I haven't popped in under a minute or 2- It's also why I don't encourage people getting the Chicago Set too. any who, would love to see how the picks hold up over a year of regular use- as they are quite expensive. Sparrows stuff always seems more thoughtful in how its manufactured imo. Anywho, thanks Noob.

[@G_off_7]

Looks like a great set. I love my standard Southord Slimline picks. How do Southord Max compare to Multipick?

[@cyberhagen]

I was wondering what happened with the Max line! I was going to look into getting a couple, but I think I would prefer the old handles, having fairly large mitts; I suppose the feedback would be better w/o them but at my current level I really can't tell anyway.

[@roysammons2445]

Another very well rounded review of this Southord kit. Like you said it's missing tok tension wrenches. I also think they sound have kept to their original 023 thou in thickness. Apart from those two things it's a very nice kit. Thank tou for sharing the review with us 🙂👍

[@madcapmagician6018]

Great review 😁👍

[@BeercanBushcraft]

Fabulous set - wish I could afford them. I'd turn those two 'odd' turning tools into Chris Capune's Universal Tension Wrenches (which are top of the keyway). Cheers mate, have a great weekend 👍 🍻 🍻 🍻

[@AkiraHDR50]

That's quite a steep price. I would stick with the Sparrows EOD kit with a medusa pick for starting off.

[@LockNoob]

It’s a solid choice for sure

[@HVAC_Tips_Tricks_Calcs]

Good stuff as always. Time for a giveaway :) BTW, on your thumbnail you have the word 'YEILD'. Was that supposed to be 'yield'?

[@Прохожий-ы8к]

I'll finish to watch this video not now but what I see it's excellent...... Thx Master 👍🔓 I'm last time think to buy set of tools but it not easy today. Very many new brands of tools and I'm not sure what good from all 🙂🙃🙂🙃🙂 Crazy moment )))) Thx once again Master 👍🔓🌐🏆

[@Leonslockpad]

Nice set Ash mate great video👍🇬🇧😊😎👊

[@A9_stories]

I would love it if you could check out the TRS Survival EZ lock pick set, the contents look promising with a large selection of picks, and tensioning sets even including shackle shims and 2 practice locks for the price of $25 USD as a beginner I would love knowing if this is a quality set that I could start with or if it is another stereotypical cheaply made aluminium foil set from a factory in china.

[@LockNoob]

I might see if I can get one

[@forteandblues]

Great vid!

[@TrueSighted]

Its a nice set, just very expensive.

[@ronpalmer1371]

Anyone else think it’s just for profit so many “new” picks are developed ? I’ve been picking for 53 years and NEVER needed more than just a few different picks, I think your being played by these companies

[@iyeetsecurity922]

Their sets have so many picks that are borderline *useless* tools.

[@ronpalmer1371]

Yes, they keep coming up with unnecessary junk to make themselves a profit, it may fool the newbie’s into thinking they must have ever pic imaginable but any genuine locksmith knows you only need a very few pics.